TATEYAMA KUROBE ALPINE

From Tokyo: 3h 20 min via Echigo-Yuzawa Station (JR Jo'etsu Shinkansen Line) to Toyama Station. 1h from Dentetsu Toyama to Tateyama Station by Toyama Chitetsu Tateyama Line. From Osaka: 3h 10 min to Toyama Station by JR Hokuriku Line. The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route is an international mountain sightseeing route of some 90 kilometers long. The route goes across the 3,000-meter-high North Alpine mountains, the so-called "roof of Japan," and connects Toyama and Shinano Omachi. You can enjoy the panorama, from the fresh green of spring, to the red leaves of fall, to the new snow of winter, by taking a train, highland bus, trolley bus, cable car, and ropeway. Since the lines opened in June 1971, the Tateyama mountain area has been transformed from an isolated spot into one of the nation's best sightseeing areas, where a million guests visit every year.

Murodo-daira of Tateyama has one of the heaviest snows in the world, and the snow reaches about seven meters on average. In particular, the snow mantle at Otani, a five-minute walk from Murodo Station, sometimes gets more than 20 meters because of snowdrifts. The famous "Snow Walls" are formed by expelling this heavy snow, and the 500-meter-long area with such snow walls is open to sightseers from mid-April to late May.


The Kurobe Dam, built at the upper stream of the Kurobe-gawa River, an arched concrete dam 186 meters high, is the highest in Japan and is higher than a 50-floor skyscraper. From the dam's observatory, you see a panorama view of the Tateyama mountain range and the North Alpine. Visitors can see the dynamic water discharge from 26 June to 15 October.